Funny Fridays

Having three grand-babies keeps Hubby John and I young. It's like HJ always says, "if we'd known grandchildren were so much fun we would have had them first!". LOL! Our newest addition to the grand-babie pool is Ronan David.  Ronan was born on 12-12-12.  Lucky little boy.  He is now almost five months old an is starting to become aware of his surroundings and his family.  He is starting to smile more now that his mommy seems to have found what she can and can't eat while breast feeding.   Ronan is a much happier little man than he has been these last few months.  We enjoy him so much and can hardly wait until he starts to play with us.  We don't get him without mommy being there yet, but that will happen eventually.   The wee fiend, Kian, will turn 3 in June.   He is so much fun to be with. He has learned to run, how to say NO, how to flirt and how to make his Grams and Papa laugh...all the time. Papa is his daycare on Fridays and now that I have every other Friday off I get to join in the fun. The WF loves to walk and we do a lot of walking when he's around. He also loves puddles and HJ and I can hardly wait for the spring thaw. Lookout puddles...here we come. My Cutie-Patootie, Neve, is now, according to her, a big girl, not a baby anymore. At eight years of age, she is right in that she is big, but she will always be our grand baby. CP is still a source of humor for us. Whenever we have her, even if only for a few minutes between school and dance classes, she is sure to come out with words of wisdom, that from a eight year olds point of view, make perfect sense. Most of what she says's makes us struggle to keep our laughter from exploding outwards and making her indignant or mad or both. CP is growing up too fast and we don't get enough of her during the school year. Hopefully, come schools end, we will have have her a for a few Fridays.   Won't that be GREAT? All the grand babies on the same day. Come summer, I think HJ and I are in for some funny Fridays.

Hot..Hot..Hot....

I can't believe that we are already into the month of June.  It seems like just yesterday that I was complaining about the cold (and I like the cold) and now here I am complaining about the heat.  I am not a big fan of hot days but I do like a big fan on hot days.   I work in air conditioning all week so I feel  I am very lucky.  Hubby John works outside most of the time and although he likes the heat even he has made comments in the past few weeks about being too hot during the day.  We have been getting some rain, and although it is really needed, it seems that all the rain does is make things sticky and humid and uncomfortable for everyone.  Hmmmmm....I really sound grumpy about the weather don't I?  I promise that I will try to lighten up and not complain, too much, about that hot sunshine.  That being said, HJ and I have not opened our pool yet.  We have ordered a new liner and are waiting for it to be installed.  The old liner was 25 years old and although it had a few patches here and there it was showing more tears along the top that were too big to patch. We did really well in getting that many years out of it.  So we picked a new design and are waiting.  We are replacing the filter as well.  Might as well go new with everything. For the past few years Hubby John has been breaking out in a rash every time he gets into the pool.  Doctors could not say what was causing the problem. We thought that maybe the liner was breaking down.  That is only one theory in the quest for an answer.  He has no problem swimming in fresh water pools or the ocean when we go away on holiday.  No problem in the hot tub either.  So hopefully HJ will not break out once all the new pool stuff is in.  Maybe this year he will actually get to use the pool on a full time basis.  I don't care for myself but it would be nice for him.  He is the pool guy.  I don't care one way or the other if we have a pool or not.  I am not a big fan of swimming.  But with that being said HJ is a fan of hot weather and his swimming pool, so for his sake I hope the new liner solves the mystery of the mysterious rash and HJ can frolic in the cool water once more.  As for me....where is the nearest tree or air conditioner?

My Old Man

My dearest Hubby John turns 60 today and he is having a bit of a hard time with it.
Here, in Canada, it means that they, the powers that be, officially recognize HJ as a senior citizen.
This is not a bad thing......Really!!!
Just think seniors discounts.
People opening the door for you.
You get to say "I forgot" and have people smile at you and say, "that's OK...we all forget now and then."
You get to whine and complain and nobody will tell you to shut up. They will just smile, nod their heads and say "it will be alright" and "things are sure to get better" and ask "is there anything I can do?"
As the "officially old man" wife I will do my best to ensure all this senior power doesn't go to his head.
When HJ forgets, I will be the one to say, "What do you mean you forgot? Why didn't you write it down or put it in your Blackberry?".
When he whines about being cold or hot or whatever, I WILL be the one to tell him to stop whining.
When HJ complains I will be the one to say, "Shut up and quit your complaining!"
The way I see it, getting old gives you the best of both worlds.
HJ will have those who sympathize with him and will help him wallow in self pity and he will have ME, the one who keeps him grounded, sane and in the real world.
So HAPPY 60Th BIRTHDAY HUBBY JOHN!
Remember HJ that turning 60 is not a death sentence.
It's only a number....a big one, I will admit, but still it's just a number.
After all has been said and done in this post,I've saved the best comment for last.
Hubby John remember to "them" you may be an just another old man..
but to me...... your my old man.

On My Way Up

I have decided to clean out the attics this year. It MUST be done. We have 3 attics that are used for storage. They are located at the back and front of our house under the eaves. It is impossible to stand up straight in the attics. When you enter them, if you're smart, you wear a hard hat or helmet to prevent head whacks against the beams. I am not smart. I have however, over the years, learned to crouch and scuttle like a big crab while in the attics thus avoiding, most of the time, getting bruised and battered. So, as I was saying, I decided to clean out the attics. It is time to downsize, to get rid of unused and unneeded stuff. That was, I found, easier to say than do. My problem is that I have a tendency to remember "who gave me what" and so I feel guilty when I put something in the "to-go" pile. SIGH! However, I straightened up my backbone...after I came out of the attic....and got on with the dirty deed. I am happy to say that half the front attic has been cleared. Yes, there is a lot of Christmas stuff going back into storage BUT there was a whole lot more that was tossed. In fact Hubby John was, I think, surprised by how much got sent off to a good cause. Really, when you think about it, it WAS a good cause because it is someone else's problem now. A local organization, now has a whole lot more items, most in excellent condition, for their upcoming garage sale fundraiser. So, by my cleaning out they will be cleaning up. Yes, I still have the other end of the front attic to clean out but that is mostly old paperwork that will need to be shredded. There is not really much else left in there. Maybe 3 or 4 boxes of John Vincent's childhood treasures that will be sent over to his house. It will be his decision to decide what to or not to keep. So now, I have one attic almost done and 2 to go. I have to work faster as hot weather is approaching and I can't work in the attics in hot weather as I will pass out from the heat. Time is moving on so I need to get into high gear. Attics beware.....I am on my way up.

Out in no-blog-land.

Wow....I've been off in no-blog-land since March and when I come back to do a quick post I can't remember how to do it. I mean really....I had to log out and come back in to figure out how/where to go to do a new post. Man, my mind is just too busy! My body has been busy too. It seems there are not enough hours in a week let alone a day, to do everything that I want to do. I have been very neglectful in posting anything and also in reading up on any of my "Blogs that make me go Ohhh". I am hoping in the next few months to be able to remedy this problem. To show how behind in time I am.... I just got the planters on our back deck filled this weekend and we are already into July! The pool just got opened in the last week and the two sheds have been more organized than they were. HJ and I have been trying to get everything that needs to be done....well....done. April was nothing too exciting. I slept a lot. ..and do i mean a LOT! I just couldn't seem to get my act together that month. Every time I sat down I fell asleep. Weird huh? I'm fine now but boy was I tired then. I spent time gathering and putting together prizes for the raffle table for the June golf tournament. That kept me busy for a while as well. I was also busy organizing an upcoming anniversary party.
May was not a really good month. A too-young husband and father of a 4 year old and a three week old passed away. Alan, also left a wonderful wife, parents, grandparents and brothers grieving. Three months from his Cancer diagnosis to his passing stunned us. That was and still is, a hard death to come to terms with. We had 2 funerals that same week. One was for my mom's younger brother Buzz (78 years young) and two days later was Alan's. My Uncle Bert (another of my moms younger brothers), lost a grandson and a brother within 2 days of each other. How very sad for him....and for the rest of the family members of both men.
I know that both Uncle Buzz and Alan are missed very much by a lot of family and friends. They are all in my prayers nightly.
It seemed that May just went so fast. It was such a whirlwind of activity for us. A lot of May was sad but it had some happy events too. At the end of May we had a surprise 25Th anniversary party for Hubby Johns' sister Nancy and her husband Mark. Shannon and Chantal, their girls put a lot of work into this event. I helped where I could. I designed the invites around a "movie" theme. Popcorn was on the tables and the posters we put up had Nancy & Marks faces imposed on them. I must say that Mark made an excellent Alvin the Chipmunk.
Yes, it was a lot of work but it was a big success. M&N were surprised, everyone had a good time, the band was excellent, we had lots of food and people went home happy! What more could you ask for?
Next thing we knew May was gone and June was here. We had 3 events that we were invited to for the first Saturday in June but we had promised way back in the fall of last year to help at a golf tournament fund raiser that our son John Vincent, had organized and headed.
It was for Neve's day care (next year she will go to the after school part as she will be in grade 1). It is a not-for-profit organization. Hubby John and I donated time and raffle prizes. HJ went golfing, enjoyed it very much and then we had a great tasting dinner afterwards. There was a raffle table and silent auction too. There were, as always,some really good prizes and donations. They had a good turnout. This year they let me out of my cage for an hour or so. I was out on the course to oversee the "closest to the flag" chipping thingy. I enjoyed it even if only 5 people tried it. Next year they need to advertise that it is a no charge -try to win a prize event and then maybe more golfers will come over to my side of the course. The event raised a lot of money to be used on playground equipment. We have already booked the first Sat of June 2012 to do it all over again. Whoo Hoo! The following day we spent a wonderful afternoon with our good friends Karl & Virginia. We missed Ginny's 60Th Bday party (which had been held on the day of the golf tournament) so we were able to see all of their gang who had come into town. We had a lovely lunch and spent a few hours just enjoying and visiting with everyone. Happy Birthday again Ginny!
June also saw us both doing a lot, but not enough, babysitting of both grnadbabies. We attended Cutie Patootie's kindergarten graduation ceremony. She is now officially a big girl who will, in September, be able to go onto the big kids playground. CP told me that this is a really BIG deal for her. She will no longer be in the baby playground at school. She is very excited about this. June also saw us going to the Cutie Patooties year end dance review. As always, she did an excellent job (all the kids did). I found it a long night and I was only there from 6:30. Neve had been there from 1:00PM that afternoon and by 9:00PM she (and all the other kids) was totally wiped. Good Dancing Neve! You Rock!!! June saw the Wee Fiend, Kian, learning how to crawl and trying to walk (without help). He is one busy little man. His first Bday was the 24th and although he did get new cars from us his main gift came later. A swimming pool with an umbrella to keep him shaded. He likes the pool. Wow.....I can't believe it has been a year already. Time really does fly! He is sooo cute! A Bday party for our Wee Fiend was this past weekend. It was a great party and the birthday boy was in fine form. All the immediate family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were there for a very HOT afternoon. Great grandma was there too as well as friend Rosie who was visiting from BC and her mom, Aunt Cara. A great time was had by all and the birthday boy got some very cool gifts! It was a wonderful long weekend and a great way to start July!
So, Hubby John and I will be getting away to the USA for a few days, both this month and in August. I am sooooo looking forward to both trips. This month we go to Erie PA for a few days of shopping and then we drive over to Darrian Lake(Sp?) for 2 days of water park wet fun and amusement park rides. We are travelling with John Vincent, Sarah ,and of course, my Cutie Patootie, Neve. It will be lots of fun. This way we get extra cuddle time....well at least one of us will...won't we Papa? (But she does like my macaroni salad and tells everyone that her Gram's make the best macaroni salad, so I can't complain.)
When we get back from the US I get my favourite Wee Fiend, Kian, to cuddle, chase and spoil for a few days while mom Jaime is at a course and dad Mike is working. Then we have another 25Th anniversary party. This one is for my baby sister Alison and her hubby Dave. That's been a busy party to ready for. I had the invites all designed and ready to print then I decided at the last minute to change the design. Why do I do that to myself? Oh well....I am very pleased with how they turned out. Mind you, having to deal with a postal strike was not the greatest but we managed. It's all good. I am sure that everything will come off smoothly. I know that it is a fun crowd of people that have been invited and they will have a good time no matter what! I just have to have everything ready before we leave for Erie. I won't have time the week I get back. So I am checking and rechecking my lists and emailing furiously to my niece Beth and making sure I have all the supplies ready to go. No problem...organization is the key to smooth running events. It will be OK!!!
The Saturday following Ali's & Dave's 25Th,we have a fundraiser dance (for Alan's family) to attend. It's out of town but I look forward to seeing everyone. I haven't seen Wendy and Dave (Alan's mom and dad) for a few weeks. We have talked on the phone but I think they both need some hugs. I've missed not seeing them.
Then there is a week of holidays/babysitting/fun times ending with a long weekend mini family reunion in Ohio. Both HJ and I are really excited about that event. His crazy canuck cousins from the North will be there too so it is sure to be a fun fun time for us all!
I, of course, will want to check out the craft stores in the area. HJ will buy a book and read a lot. He's good that way....let's me wander while he reads....it works for us.
Getting back from the states takes us into the 2nd week of August and I will be crazy busy at work. Sheila, my office cohort, will be gone on holidays for three weeks. I will be by myself in the office. August is always a busy time there anyway and with Sheila gone I know it will be a zoo. I just have to remember to take deep breaths and repeat my mantra.... I AM WOMAN...I WILL SURVIVE! Hmmmm......I'll just keep telling myself that...hee...heee...hee....
Anyway, I've got to go....I will post soon....or maybe not....depends when I can grab an hour or two for myself.
Take care everyone and have a great summer!

All I wanted was a new TV.

Happy New Years Everyone! I hope all had a great Christmas!
My goodness......I cannot believe how time has flown by since my last post in November.
I have been busy, busy, busy. It seemed that one day just flowed into the next and then all of a sudden it was Christmas and then the new year just appeared out of no where.
Where did all those days go?
Hubby John and I have been busy with redecorating our family room. It was not planned....especially with the holidays coming up.... We decided to buy a new TV for Christmas. Our old one had a habit of turning itself off every once in a while and we figured it just might be a matter of time before it stopped altogether. We had been talking about the idea of a new TV for the last year or so. So I suggested that for Christmas instead of buying gifts for each other that we get a new TV instead. HJ was happy with the suggestion and started intensifying his research on what kind he wanted to get. It didn't matter to me so I told him to knock himself out and go crazy.......but not too crazy...... We needed to keep money boundaries in place. As it turned out everything but one item, was bought on sale or at reduced pricing. I love when that happens!
As always Hubby John was very thorough in his research. After investigating, pricing various models, talking to TV experts, measuring the space available in the family room, getting information on what and how much wiring for the TV and sound system would be needed, checking to see how he would need to install the wiring, looking at and comparing the hardware needed to mount the TV and comparing the pros and con's of everything on the Internet, HJ was ready to proceed with the purchase. He decided that we were to get a flat screen and that it would be wall mounted.
Great!......that wasn't too hard was it?...easy smeezy! .....Yah....Right! I should have known better!
Since we were going to wall mount the TV we decided that the wiring would need to go in behind the wall....what a job that was. Nevertheless HJ did an wonderful job in feeding the wiring down from the top of the wall and out the bottom. It seems when they built this addition onto the house the wanted to make sure the walls never moved. They put cross pieces in every eight inches. So instead of just being able to drop the wires straight down, it left HJ drilling a lot of holes to hand feed the wiring through....and there was a lot of wiring. Unfortunately that little episode left a few holes where the drywall was cut. No Problemo! He just patched the drywall.... twice....Did you know that hands on wet drywall patch tend to go right through and leave another hole?,,,,,But it all worked out smoothly....pun intended....get it? drywall mud....smoothly..... oh never mind!.....In the end it was all was good. Well.......sort of. The wall would need to be repainted which was OK. It hadn't been done in a very long time and was very overdue for a paint job. Deciding on the colour took time and I needed samples painted on the wall to make sure I could live with it. Man, what fun that was...NOT! It's true that the "third time's a charm" and it took us that many paint sample colours to come up with one we could both live with. HJ applied a base primer to the whole room in preparation to the final colour coat. But before we painted the actual wall colour we decided that the ceiling tiles should be replaced as they were pretty grungy looking. So there was another project to be done. While we had the ceiling pulled apart and the painting not done yet, HJ installed a light over the area that I sit in and read on weekends. It is right beside the patio door and I just love sitting there reading my book and drinking my tea on the mornings that I don't have to go into work. That's my peaceful place in the house. I have always had a floor lamp standing there but a swag lamp was always on my wish list. We went and bought a pretty inexpensive hanging light that was set up for hard wiring, with the intention of installing an off/on switch on it and converting it into a swag lamp. HJ assured me that it was an eay thing to do and wouldn't take too much time. I already had a clear hook to use in the drop ceiling to hold the light so once it was converted it would be ready to hang. One day I came home from work to find that HJ hard-wired and installed the light with a wall switch instead of what he had originally planned on doing. I was so thrilled and pleased that he did that for me. To me, it looks much nicer than having wiring running down the wall to the plug. It was extra work for him and meant more drywall patching for him to do. Thanks again HJ! Finally the ceiling tiles were installed and the walls got painted. Of course with everything else brand new we needed to do something with the floor. It was covered in linoleum. I am sure it was from the 60's. It definitely needed to have something done to it. Hubby John bartered services for the lovely wall-to-wall carpet that now covers part of the room. He installed special waterproof flooring (Alure) on part of the floor that is the walkway from the patio doors to the deck and pool. HJ also put on new trim all around the room. Next, new curtains and rods and some new-to-us end tables completed the room. I am SO happy with it. The renovations were done and the tree up in time for Christmas.
Whew....what a relief that was!
Hubby John stood in line at 5:30 in the morning on boxing day to buy our new TV. He brought it home and we installed it that same day. HJ and I were very happy campers!
It is very nice to have a TV that doesn't turn off on you. We moved HJ's lazy boy to a different spot from where it used to sit before the renovations. It is now directly in line with the new TV. He has perfect viewing and with the sound system (that,thank god,was compatible with the new TV and didn't need to be replaced)it's just like being at the movie theatre. But now we have a different problem to deal with. Hubby John complains that he falls asleep every time he sits there now.
Hmmm.....could it be that the TV is making his eyes tired? Heee....hee...hee... The problem is now he lays back in his chair to get "optimum viewing" and in that position his eyes automatically close. Poor HJ........he never gets to watch his new TV because he is always sleeping. As for me, I am really enjoying it.....the TV not HJ sleeping.....because I know I won't miss anything on any of the shows I watch. This TV only turns off when I want it to!

A tale of two turkeys.

Well, here it is....Thanksgiving....again.....I can't believe that a whole year has already flown by since last years turkey dinner. This is one of Hubby Johns favourite holidays because he LOVES turkey! I don't mind turkey but it tends to give me ....how can I say this delicately and lady-like?um...well, it gives me .....gas. So although I do like turkey it doesn't like me. But I eat it anyways and I excuse myself a lot. Last year I insisted on a smaller turkey so we wouldn't have fifteen tons of it left over and be eating it for three weeks. BIG MISTAKE! We ended up with just enough leftovers to let HJ have one or two sandwiches. He was NOT a happy camper. This year Hubby John insisted on a larger turkey so there would be plenty of meat left for his midnight raids on the refrigerator. I agreed. Thursday evening while doing our holiday grocey shopping we debated as to whether we should buy a fresh or frozen one and because of lack of fridge storage space we bought a nice sized frozen turkey. No problem! We took it home, packed it in an ice cooler and left it outside in one of the vehicles to thaw. It was cold enough to keep it from going bad but would defrost in time for Saturday morning. Or so I thought! Come Saturday morning stuffing time I got a rude awaking when I realized that half the turkey was still frozen. Great....just great.... I have eleven people coming that evening for dinner and the bird can't be stuffed. Well, it could have been stuffed but I couldn't get at the end of the bird that the neck, liver and all those goodies were stuffed into. I had no way of knowing it they were loose or in a bag and if there was a bag was it paper or plastic?
Grrrrr......I was not a happy camper. Down went the bird to the laundry tub which HJ filled with cold water in the hopes that the bird would finish thawing in an hour or so. No such luck! I couldn't wait any longer so Hubby John and I went to off to the store to pick up a fresh turkey that I could get into the oven right away. HJ dropped me and the bird off at the house and off he went to buy me a burger for my lunch. I got into the house and put the groceries away and then went to stuff the fresh....not frozen.....turkey. What a surprise for me when I realized that the so called fresh turkey had been and was still frozen in some parts. In fact it was frozen in the in the same place that the turkey in the laundry tub downstairs was still frozen in. Grrrrr.....To say I blew a gasket would be an understatement. I am sure there was a blue cloud hanging in the kitchen. I did the only thing I could do. I chipped at the frozen parts while running water over them until I had a big enough hole to get my hand in to check for the extra parts and the bag, if any. No bag had to be pulled out and I stuffed the turkey, cranked the oven up to 450 and put the bird in the oven. By that time, HJ was home with A&W teen burgers and root beer. That definitely helped and I had a smile back on my face by the time I was done eating. Yummy! Then HJ took the half frozen turkey from the tub downstairs, put it into a plastic bag, packed it in ice and cold water in the cooler and set it outside, in the shade, to continue thawing. The turkey in the oven did get cooked in time and nobody knew it had been slightly deformed from being hacked. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. That evening, as company left, almost everyone took turkey leftovers home. In fact we didn't have any turkey for HJ to make a sandwich for himself later that evening. Poor Hubby John. But it was all good because on Sunday morning I was up early and put the second, now defrosted, turkey in the oven. (And yes, there was a plastic bag in it.) Because I didn't stuff this bird it cooked faster and we had turkey sandwiches for a very late lunch and a later supper and as a snack for HJ really late last night. At his request, there is turkey in the freezer for Hubby John to make turkey soup. We had turkey sandwiches for lunch today and will probably have them for supper tonight too! I will be taking turkey for lunch all this week and HJ will munch on it all week as well. We should be growing feathers by the end of the week. LOL! So there you have it. The tale of two turkeys. Hubby John won't complain about a turkey shortage again....at least not for this year. And believe me when I say this....
next year I'm doing a ham.

The best part of our summer.

There I go again! Weeks and weeks since my last post! I have not been motivated to turn on the computer to even read my "Blogs that make me go Ohhh!". Well, that’s not quite true....I did sneak on to read a few of them....I'm not saying which ones because it might be taken as showing favoritism and it shouldn't be taken that way. I didn't even leave a comment on the few I quickly read and I hate doing that but I was just too tired to do more than get a quick blog fix. Both Hubby John and myself have been busy....at work and home. But we are still trying to spend time with Cutie-Patootie and Mr. B. as often as possible. Hubby John and I took Cutie Patootie Neve to the beach twice this summer. We had a great time (both times) and played and ate and jumped in the waves. Good memories for us all. Papa (Hubby John) and Grams (that's me) go over to spoil Kian (aka Mr. B.) at least once a week and I know we would both be there every day if we could. He's just so cute and cuddlable (is that a word?). He's only six weeks old but he changes a wee bit every time we see him. So we see him as often as possible without intruding on his mommy and daddy too much. I can hardly wait for sleepovers…..although I know that is a looong way away yet! The summer has flown by so quickly and I did not even go to one garage sale OR to Michael’s. THAT is saying a LOT! I love to do both so it just goes to show how busy I/we have been. Mind you, last Thursday I booked a day off work. HJ was having some dental work done up in E town and I went along for the ride. While there, I managed to get some great deals. E town just happened to have a sidewalk sale and the annual book sale at the local library that day. It was great! I got to spend a hour or so browsing and buying some used books. Then I went into a thrift store that I didn't even know existed, picked up a few things and when I went to pay for them, was told they were all half price. HOW GREAT WAS THAT?!?!?! Needless to say, I was a very happy camper for sure!
HJ and I haven't taken full holidays this summer. I get every other Friday and Monday off so it hasn’t been too bad. Hubby John books his appointments around my time off whenever possible so it’s all good.
I am hoping to maybe get away camping up north this year....in the fall.... Maybe......we'll have to wait and see how the money and work (for HJ) goes. He needs to take work when he can get it. We've had a lot of expenses this year with one thing after another. Now my car is in the shop to replace the door latch assembly on the driver’s door. $700.00 plus dollars for a door handle? I don't think so! That cost was so ridiculous that I told them to find a generic or a used one instead. The generic one does not exist apparently, so I am now waiting for them to procure the used part. Had it been one of the back doors I would have just left it, but crawling through the passenger side and over the gear stick thingy is just too much of a pain.....literally.....Do you know how high you need to lift your legs to do that? Trust me....it's higher than it looks! You need to be double jointed or a Zen yoga master to do that without hurting yourself. I can definitely say that I am not either one of those. LOL!!
Anyway, time just flies too fast at our household. I am hoping that HJ and I will have some down time in these last few weeks before September descends on us. There are thrift stores, garage sales and Michael's stores just waiting for me/us to spend time at. And we both definitely need lots more Cutie-Patootie and Mr. B time too! After all, spending time with those two grand babies is by far the best part of our summer.

A stones throw away.

I have a very low pain threshold. I get a hang nail and it's enough to make me want to take a Tylenol. Not that I whine or anything like that. I usually grit my teeth and suffer in silence until I deem myself sick enough to have to go to the hospital. This has not, thank goodness, happened very often. Hubby John, on the other hand, could cut off an arm, loose all his blood and tell me to go get him a band-aid. Needless to say he has a very high pain threshold. He is rarely sick. With that being said I must tell you what happened this week. The other day HJ and I said goodbye in the morning and off I went to work while he finished getting ready to go a job over in G town. He had casually mentioned that he had a sore back and had not had a very good night. He was feeling tired but there was nothing to raise alarms of any kind. I got into work and was checking my schedule for the day when I got a call from Hubby John who asked me to come home to take him up to GR hospital emergency. Hmmm....that call told me he was really sick. By the time I got home HJ was on the phone speaking to his doctor's office who were telling him to go to emerge. So with HJ doubled up with pain off we went to the hospital. I drove....that confirmed that he really was sick. It only takes a few minutes for us to get to the hospital. Within a hour or so HJ was in a bed, and hooked up to an IV filled with anti spasm and antibiotic medication. Thirty minutes after that he was given a shot of pain medication. HJ promptly fell asleep. After having an exam by the doctor and an ultrasound the verdict came back....probable kidney stones. A prescription for two kinds of pain meds was given and we were sent home with instructions to come back to emergency only if the pain came back and the medications didn't work. I dropped Hubby John off at home. He went to bed for the rest of the day and I went back to work. Whew.....what a whirlwind day that was! Lows and highs....Good and bad. The low part was how fast it happened....the high part was how fast it was over. The bad thing.....Hubby John was really, really sick.....the good thing .....Hubby John is now all better.......the best thing .....help was only a stones throw away.....kidney stones that is.

Taste "good to the very last drop"!

How many of you can remember that commercial for Maxwell House coffee that had a single drop of coffee coming out of the cup? The announcer would say...."Good to the very last drop!"
I rarely drink coffee. I love the smell of it, before, during and after brewing. For me, the smell of coffee is a comfort thing that brings back very fond memories of my childhood. As a little girl, when I stayed at my Uncle George's house he would take me down to the grocery store and would get a bag of fresh ground coffee. Mmmmmm......that smell........I loved it then and I still do to this very day. Waking up in the morning and going downstairs to the kitchen where Aunt Cecilia would be brewing coffee with the coffee burping up to the little glass cap on top of the peculator while the bread was toasting in the electric toaster with the sides that came down. I remember it like it was yesterday rather than fifty years ago. That smell of coffee will always be a good one in my memory. My Aunt Cecilia and Uncle George always kept their brown bag of coffee in the fridge and my mom and dad and my Grams did the same. And we all know the expression....Monkey see....monkey do. So that is why I have done the same for all these years. Up to this past Christmas our coffee usually came in a can rather than a little brown bag. Once in a while Hubby John would want a bag of fresh ground coffee, but mostly when we needed to restock our supply, we bought a can when it was on sale. Regardless of can or bag, once we got it home, into the fridge or freezer it went. Imagine my surprise then, when I read on MSN news that I shouldn't have been doing that. It seems that it was the worse possible thing I could do. Here is what the article had to say about this subject:
To Store Coffee Beans
The worst place: The refrigerator or freezer
Think that you're preserving freshness by stashing it in the fridge? Think again. Every time you take it out of the fridge or freezer, you expose it to fluctuating temperatures, which produces condensation. "The moisture leeches out flavor—it's like brewing a cup of coffee each time," says John McGregor, PhD, a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition at Clemson University.
Best place: Store your beans or grounds in an opaque, airtight container kept on the counter or in the pantry.
Go figure......who knew?? I am sure that coffee drinkers all over the world were boggled by this news article. But change can sometimes be a good thing don't you think?
The good thing is that I rarely buy canned coffee anymore since Hubby John and I got a new coffee brewing system as a gift from John Vincent & Sarah, this past Christmas. It takes these little pre-filled pods and brews a cup at a time. We love it. HJ can have all the coffee he can drink and I can have tea and hot chocolate or even a speciality coffee, like butter pecan flavoured or whatever, in less than a minute. I try to be green conscious while using our new pod system. After we are done using the pods I clean them out....the coffee grounds and paper filter go into our green composting bin and the plastic pod and the tin foil lid, into the blue recycling bin. The bad thing is that there are still the odd occasions where I buy a can of coffee, for large parties or family gatherings. But I promise to all my friends and family that I will try to remember to keep the can out of the cold and damp. After all, I do want the coffee to taste as good as it smells. And I do want it to taste "good till the very last drop"!

Take me out to the ball game.

I am not a real big sports fan. I do like to watch the occasional golf game even though I don't play it myself. I also enjoy a good boxing or Judo match. And once in a while I like to watch a tennis match even though, again, I don't "do" tennis. Sometimes when your a Grams or a Papa you do and watch things that you normally would not do or watch.
For the last month or so Hubby John and I have been going out to "W" Town to watch our Cutie Patootie Neve play soccer. The teams consist of Jr and Senior kindergarten children. It is a non competitive sport in that it's meant to be an hour of activity for the kids and an opportunity for them to learn a new sport and how to be part of a team. No scoring is kept. It is the funniest thing to watch. Last week in the middle of a run to the opponents end of the field, CP who is on the burgundy team and her her best friend, who happens to be on the yellow team, both stopped to compare their shoes. Then another girl stopped to find out what the conversation was about and all three were showing off their fancy footwear. Needless to say, parents of all three were shouting at the girls to "go get the ball!". HJ and I did not yell with the other adults. We were too busy trying to hold each other up so we didn't fall down laughing. Would I miss one of my Cutie Patootie's games? Not for a million dollars! Where else can I go and laugh all evening and not have to pay for it? We get the best seats on the field. We get to laugh all evening. We get to cheer for the other team when they make a goal OR block one. We get to see coaches trying to keep some kind of order. (Note I said trying.) We get to see soccer players stopping to watch ants doing whatever ants do, while they, the players, are in the middle of a game, and we get to watch everyone stop to go and help someone who has fallen down, even if he or she is not on their team. Last week we spent half the night watching a little guy take 2 steps, stop to pull up his pants, take 2 more steps and stop again to pull up his pants and then run all the way down the field while holding up his pants. Finally we got the coaches attention and the pant problem (ties not tied) was fixed. The little guy ran the rest of the game with his pants staying put.
Silly me......I always thought that soccer was a very boring game. Boy, or should I say Girl, was I wrong! I am starting to think that "W" Town Monday-night soccer, is a game I could watch every night of the week.

Kidnapped

The trouble with getting older is that your brain cells start shrinking and disappearing. When that starts to happen you will find...if you were to look....that your gray matter...no, not your hair... your brain...tends to delegate cell usage to the more important duties that you need to take care of on a more or less daily basis. That is: not drooling while you are eating, where you put your teeth if they aren't in your mouth, breathing, walking and remembering to wake up after you have either intentionally or unintentionally fallen asleep. These things, to the young, are trivial and funny matters. That's OK....let them laugh now....we'll see how much they are laughing in another thirty years or so. Well....that's if we still have eyesight that works....even if it has to be while using a 160 watt light bulb to be able to see what we need to see. HA! You young whippersnappers....just remember....she who laughs last laughs best. The joke will someday be on you!.........oh.....yah.........where was I? OH! I remember!....so with this background intel that I have just given you, I am sure that you will appreciate the statement that keys, can sometimes be left in the lock, of the front door, after you have come home from an evening of shopping. Left there ... all night long... to be discovered when you open the front door the following morning. Hubby John did it....not me. I must say that I trembled a bit when I saw the keys in that door. What if some handsome...rich...really rich... stranger came along and absconded with me during the night? Hubby John would never hear anything. He snores too loud to hear anything once he is asleep. I could have been kidnapped and he wouldn't know I was gone until late morning......or evening.....depending on when he realized I wasn't around, if he did realize I wasn't around. Even then, he would have probably thought I had just gone out thrifting for a few hours. I sometimes think I am too unappreciated. Just think.......I am gone....away from my loving family and dirty house....and nobody suspects anything. SIGH! When I finally walk in through the front door. late at night, after I have wrenched my sobbing person from the handsome, rich.....very rich...absconder and made my way, in the dark, in the pouring rain (Murphy's Law applied here) back to my dirty house and family, HJ would look up from watching Bones or Two and a Half Men on the TV and say, "So....did you get any good deals?
SIGH.......... I am off now......I need to go check and see where HJ left his keys.

Easter Adventures of Lois, Hubby John and the Cutie-Patootie.

I have been so busy lately that I just remembered that I forgot to post about my wonderful Easter weekend. Duh! I will post about what's keeping me so busy at a later date. It seems the days are just flying by and I forget to let everyone know what's been happening in my life. Anyway, I had a wonderful, busy, looooong Easter weekend. It started on Thursday. This was my long weekend off at work and I got Thursday off in lieu of Friday, which of course, was a statutory holiday. So like I was saying, I didn't have to work on Thursday but Hubby John did. I had a list of to-do things that needed to be done. There was banking, house cleaning, grocery shopping and errands to run for HJ but I also wanted to to take advantage of a free day and get some thrift shopping done as well. I dropped by a few of my favourite thrift stores between doing the other errands. I bought the prettiest little cut glass bowl for $0.35 and some pretty paper dollies for a $0.10. I also got a pretty little basket that had butterflies on it for $0.25 and another small pale pink basket that had a pink-white-washed one inch metal rim around the top of it. It will make a lovely gift basket with maybe some flower seed packets and a pair of garden gloves or garden tools in it or maybe some nice soap with a pretty hand towel and hand cream. The best part was the price at only $0.25. I bought a little ceramic dish that will eventually be used as a soap dish. That cost me another whopping $0.25. I also bought a certain something that will be part of a certain Mr. Bump's gift at one of the three Bump Showers that are coming up in May. I fell in love with it and thought that it was perfect for the occasion. That cost me a whole $2.00. Only the best for our soon to be baby boy bump! The last item I bought was a lovely stationary box full of Christmas cards and note paper. It was brand new and I paid $3.00 for it. That item is destined for a hostess gift come November/December of this year. Pretty and inexpensive. I love finding really good deals. Thrifting was one of the most relaxing parts of my day. I got to slowly take my time poking around some of my favourite thrift stores and I got some really good deals to boot! All those pretty items for $5.20 with tax included. How great is that???? Very great I'd say!!! I was a very happy camper! I was also a very tired camper after my thrifting, grocery shopping, banking, and stopping at the pharmacy, Bulk Barn and Dollar stores to pick up Easter candy for all my kids, both big and small. I had one more errand to run for Hubby John and then it was time to head home. I didn't get the cleaning done completely because I only had a half hour or so before HJ got home from the job he had been doing. Geese...the day had just flown by. There was enough time for each of us to take a quick shower and then we were off to pick up the Cutie-Patootie from day care. We were very excited because she was staying overnight. We went out for supper at one of our favourite restaurants had a long quiet dinner while CP told us all about her day. Afterwards we stopped in for a few grocery items that had been left off the list and then made another quick stop at Zellers and the Bulk Barn and then we went home. While Cutie-Patootie and Hubby John cuddled in the easy chair to watch a movie (Mermaid Barbie) I got all the housework but the vacuuming done. It had been a good day...long, but good...and we were all in bed early because we were going to have an even busier day on Good Friday. That story will be coming up in my next post, so stay tuned for the further Easter Adventures of Lois, Hubby John and the Cutie Patootie.

Hubby John you're my hero.

I had the week between Christmas and New Year's off and I really enjoyed it! I got to do some thrifting, some visiting and some just doing nothing. I did a little reading, a bit more of sleeping and a lot of eating. Mmmmm....mmmmm....... Like I said....I really enjoyed it! One lazy evening Hubby John was hunkered down in his lazy-boy chair, in the family room at the back of the house, watching some movie on TV. I was in the office, at the front of the house, catching up on my blog reading and playing an on-going game of Spider solitaire. I was thoroughly enjoying myself when I became aware of this very loud screeching noise. "What is he up to now?" I wondered to myself. The noise continued for a few moments with no indication of it getting less loud. "Turn down the TV", I yelled to Hubby John. A few seconds went by and that annoying noise was not getting any softer. "JOHN!!! TURN IT DOWN!!! ARE YOU DEAF????" I had to yell because the shrieking was not going away. Meanwhile as I am muttering to myself about deaf old men HJ was yelling at me, "LOIS...WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING??? TURN IT DOWN!!! I CAN'T HEAR THE TV!" With that I got up and headed towards the family room and at the same time HJ headed towards the office. We met in the middle of the hallway and both yelled at the same time, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT NOISE?" It sounded like a smoke alarm. HJ ran upstairs and came back down to say it wasn't coming from up there. Then he ran down to the basement and back up to report it wasn't coming from down there. Where in the house was it coming from? We checked the office and the living room. We checked the back room and the kitchen. We double checked upstairs and the basement. Hubby John kept asking if I had put a smoke alarm or carbon detector somewhere else on the main floor. We checked the linen closet and the bathroom. We looked in all the cupboards and the pantry. I yelled at HJ that although I was going a bit senile that I knew for a fact that I hadn't hidden a smoke detector on top of the china cabinet. After about ten minutes of putting my ear up against everything I could think of, I decided that the noise was coming from the stove. Hubby John figured out how to take the top unit of the stove off. It only has the clock and timer on it so we didn't have to worry about knobs for the gas being moved. Once HJ had the unit off the rest of the stove he disconnected the wiring from the timer and......nothing.........I mean, the noise stopped. Ahhhh.......... Then HJ touched the wiring back to the timer and that screeching started all over again.. GRRRRRRRRR!!! TURN IT OFF!!!!! He did. We have quiet now......no timer on the stove ... but we do have quiet. We have no idea why the wiring went haywire like it did. The stove top and oven are working fine. I just don't have a timer or clock on my oven. That's not a problem as I have three clocks in a kitchen the size of a postage stamp so I really don't need the one on the stove. One of these days I am going out to buy a timer so we have one if we need it. And one of these days when we have some extra money, in a few years or so, we will have a repair person come in and fix the stove. It's on the "TO-DO" list and like I said, one of these days it will get done. It's all good. My ears have stopped ringing and if I never hear that screeching sound again I will be one happy lady.
Hubby John.....you're my hero.......thank you for saving my ears!

I thought and I could have sworn.

If I had a penny for every time I uttered the words "I thought..." or "I could have sworn..." I would be a rich woman right now. It seems that my days are a wasteland of lost things. Maybe if I was a bit more, OK who am I kidding?...let me re-phrase that line.....maybe if I was a LOT more organized, I wouldn't waste half my days and nights going through cupboards, drawers and closets muttering "I thought....I could have sworn..". Geesh! It's enough to drive a woman insane and a Hubby John crazy. I am sure he must sit in his chair, with his feet up, watching his TV show while I run around the house looking for another whatever that I thought and could have sworn I had, thinking to himself, "Well if you would get all your crap together in one place and labelled you'd know where it is....if you even have it." See, this is why I need a craft room. Then I would only have to be in one room saying, "I though I had or I could have sworn.". I wouldn't be driving Hubby John crazy. HJ if you are reading this, and I am sure you are, we need to move to a bigger house. I need a craft room. Hey don't even go there! Never mind....you want a heated garage, I want a craft room. Fair is fair! Naw......forget it. Just the thought of packing up all my stuff to move it and then having to unpack it again exhausts and depresses me. If I actually had to do all that packing I would probably die of exhaustion and mental stress. Ha! Yes, people can so die from exhaustion. I saw it on House and CSI and Dr. Oz. Oh sure, I can take Happy Pills for the mental part but the actual work would definitely kill me I am sure. Stop smiling HJ! Can you imagine me trying to pack up this house? Running around with scissors, string, tape and a marker looking for stuff to pack? While you supervise from the chair yelling at me not to run with the scissors because I might fall and poke my eye out. Yah right....who are I kidding? We both know I don't run so that would never happen. But still if we did move you would really go crazy listening to me repeat over and over....."I thought...", "I could have sworn"..."I thought".... Yes, it really would drive you crazy. Hmm.........this is a thought to myself and I should write it down before I forget, (where is a post-it note when I need one?) if HJ went crazy and got put into the insane asylum I wonder how long it would take to convert the office to a craft room. Well there you go! Perfect solution to my problem! No need to move.
Hubby John.....your Nuts! A wild and crazy guy! I need to call our lawyer and have him get started on the paperwork. Now if I could just remember where the Rolodex is. Hmmm...let me think about this for a minute......I thought it was on the desk, or maybe in the office, was it the kitchen? no... aha! the living room.....nope, you know I thought and I could have sworn..............

Feel better my little sicko.

My dear Hubby John is a sicko.

No, he's not some kind of weirdo or a pervert,

regardless of the fact that my sister has called him that for years.

No, he's just a sicko.

He has a virus that has him coughing, hacking and feeling tired and yucky.

Poor him.

I hope he gets better......real fast.

It's no fun with him sick.

His coughing keeps interrupting my television shows....

aww....just kidding.

I feel bad that he feels bad.

But seriously..... there is a new movie that I would like to see...

and hear...so get feeling better my little sicko.

Lazy Day

Today was an extremely lazy day for me. I got up at 8:00 this morning and after doing the usual bathroom stuff (I was going to say crap but somehow that just sounds wrong doesn't it?) and putting on a load of laundry, I made my cup of tea and settled down in my front room with the sun shining in, to read my book. I really wanted a bologna sandwich for breakfast so I had one. Not toasted, whole wheat bread, (although I prefer white with bologna) with a little butter, lots of yellow mustard and some really good bologna. It can't be no name brand....nope....it has to be J.M. Schneider's Blue Ribbon Bologna...it is the absolute best there is! Now I know some people might think a bologna sandwich is a weird thing for breakfast but I know people who eat leftover pizza for breakfast. And they eat it cold. Now THAT'S weird!!! Anyway, I digress. So I got my sandwich, my hot cup of tea, my Baby Cat Oscar keeping my feet warm and the book I am reading which is the third in this particular series "A song Of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin. It happens to be a good series, a fiction with knights, kings, damsels in distress, dragons, good guys and bad guys. I'm enjoying it very much as is Hubby John, who is on the first book of the series. So there I am, reading in the sunshine with Baby Cat Oscar snoring away while keeping my feet warm and I finish my yummy bologna sandwich and my hot cup of tea and the next thing I know my book has fallen on the floor. Hmmmm........maybe I need to go take a nap. After all it is 9:30 and I have been up for over an hour now. So off Baby Cat and I go to crawl back into bed for a little snooze. At 10:30 I hear Hubby John moving around and at 11:00 I finally haul my lazy ass bones out of bed.....again. I had a shower hoping it would wake me up, drank another cup of hot tea, and decided it was lunch time and had a toasted bacon and tomato sandwich for lunch. Then off to the mall to buy a graduation gift for daughter Jaime who graduates from University on Wednesday with her teaching degree. I knew exactly what I wanted to get her. Just the perfect shopping trip. No muss....no fuss...just in and out....wham bam....thank you mam...you have a nice day too! Home to HJ who hadn't moved very much while I was gone. It was time for a cold root-beer, a Turkish Delight bar and another few pages of my book. I should have wrapped the gift but I will do it tomorrow as I have Monday off. Today I was just too lazy and tired. At 3:00 I laid down for a half hour power nap and then got up and went outside to weed my front garden. Is it still called a garden when you have flowering bushes only? I suppose so because what else would you call it? So there I was with my hand spade, a pail for weeds and my handy dandy clippers which I would never be without.
Now don't get me wrong. I love gardens. But I hate gardening. When you buy a bush for the garden they should have to tell you that 4 foot long thorns will eventually grow from the plant. Nooooo.......they only go on and on about the beautiful cascading red blossoms that will transform your garden from a ugly piece of land to a showcase area of your home. Yeah.....right.....
Truth be told they were right. It does look nice when it flowers. But when you need to weed around it you have to wear chain mail to keep from looking like you had a fight with the neighbourhood tom cat. Man, I have scratches everywhere....my arms, my legs, my face and even on my knees. Note to myself: pull that damn bush out this fall. However, I persevered and now the front garden is ready to have mulch put on it and the neighbours no longer have to shudder every time they look out their front windows. Around 7:00 pm after I got everything out front cleaned up and put away, I made a quick dash to the store for some tomatoes and tortilla chips. Twenty minutes later I got to sit down to a lovely taco salad that Hubby John made for supper. That salad is listed as one of my favourite meals. I made a Sauce N' Cake mix up for dessert and it baked while I did dishes. Mmmmmmmm......perfect end to a perfect meal.
So all in all it was a very lazy day and I enjoyed every minute of it.....except for that stupid woman eating bush which I can guarantee you will not be there next spring.

Don't even ask.

Hubby John has always said that I can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I hate to admit that he speaks the truth on this subject.
I can't believe that I did what I did tonight. It boggles my mind. Sometimes I wonder how I ever wake up, get dressed and drive to work without hurting myself.
After being off for the last 12 days on vacation, I went back to work today. I worked 3 hours extra this evening to try to clear some of the vacation return desk-mess that always greets me when I get back into the office.
I am sure you know what it is like. Vacation is great but the work is still there when you get back.
Sheila, my office cohort, was great at making sure that I have separate file folders for book orders, docket orders, and stuff to take care of when I get back and have the time to deal with it. She takes care of my email and even sorted and created files for my personal emails, emails that need to be answered and emails that are questionable.
THANK YOU SHEILA! She really makes a return from holiday much easier. I am so lucky to work with her.
Anyway, today was a very long, hectic non-stop day for me. Working those extra three hours made me very tired and I was really glad to get home. Hubby John had cooked up a pan of homemade macaroni and cheese for my supper. So I grabbed a bowl of the mac & cheese, my bowl of salad and a big glass of cold milk, took two steps towards the family room and promptly dumped everything. Oh my gosh , there was cheese sauce and salad everywhere! The ooey gooey cheesy macaroni dumped down the side of the stove, all over the floor and splashed the side wall, water cooler and the pantry. Did I mention that the pantry has louvered doors? Do you know what a pain-in-the-ass louvered doors are for cleaning? Trust me they are.....a really big PITA! Mixed into the mess was the salad with the wonderful creamy ranch dressing and feta cheese crumbles. What a MESS!!!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the oven mitts that are hanging beside the stove. Yep....most of them got covered in or filled up with mac & cheese and salad with ranch dressing. Just lovely!
I didn't drop the glass of milk but it had floaters....yum, yum.
And of course the clean shirt that I had just put on was no longer clean.
SIGH...........................
All I could do was clean up the mess. Hubby John came out to help and after he was done laughing we washed the stove and the walls and the damn louvred pantry doors, the water cooler, the kitchen floor, the whole kitchen floor mind you, and then we washed and rinsed off/out the oven mitts (all 6 of them).
Then I had to make my supper all over again.
This time I didn't drop anything and I made it to the family room to watch Survivor and a 2 hour special of Gray's Anatomy while eating my lovely dinner. (Watching that season finale was worth the kitchen mess for sure....I can't wait for the new season to start in the fall.)
So when Hubby John says I can't chew gum and walk at the same time he really means it. Just look at what happened when I tried to walk and carry something at the same time.
I'm going to bed now. I am tired beyond belief and I think I just found some cheese sauce in my hair.........don't even ask.
P.S. Thanks for making supper John. It was good!

Here I come!

So far this has been a most excellent long weekend for me. On Friday Hubby John and I had our Cutie-Patootie Neve for the day. We spent most of the day outside watching her ride her bike. Neve wanted hot dogs for lunch so Hubby John barbecued them, stuffed them with cheese and relish and served his two ladies outside in the sunshine. Mmmmmm Good! After lunch we all made a quick trip to Canadian Tire to buy a much needed basket, horn and handle streamers for Neve's bike. We had promised Neve a trip to Dairy Queen for a treat but first we drove around for a bit hoping that she would fall asleep for a nap. After 45 minutes so she piped up from the back and asked her Papa how long was it going to take to get there. So we got to the DQ stopped and enjoyed our treats and on the way home Neve did sleep. So we did get her nap in which was a good thing. Neve was in such a great mood the whole day and a great time was had by all of us. After her daddy picked her up to take her to her swimming lessons, Hubby John and I just sat outside enjoying the sunshine and reading. Later we did steaks and potatoes on the BBQ and I fried up a whole mess of fresh mushrooms. Very tasty! By midnight I was up in bed and sound asleep. Saturday morning I tidied up the house and got ready for our pot luck dinner that evening. Part of our "gang" joined us for dinner and as usual we all ate way too much really good food. The rest of the group came by later on for cards and munchies.....like any of us needed them!...and a good time was had by all. Today and tomorrow Hubby John and I plan on spending some time together....maybe working on the bathroom.....maybe not....we'll see what happens. Right now I am going to make myself a cup of tea and a piece of toast and I'm going to find my book to read. Look out sunshine ...here I come!

Watch out for a full moon.

After forgetting all weekend and almost forgetting again on Monday, I got a job done that I wanted to do. I finally bought the curtain rod. No, it isn't up yet! I am hoping Hubby John and I will do that on Friday. I didn't buy curtains. I bought a four pack of very pretty, heavy lace place mats from the dollar store. I am threading the curtain rod through them. In theory this will work just fine but sometimes my plans have a tendency to go awry. Hmmmm......... I hope this is not one of those times. We haven't had a curtain on that side window for years. There was never a need for one. Then the owner of the house next door moved the car that he had been storing in the driveway for the last ten years. Right after the car got moved Hubby John leaned a door against that wall and that blocked that particular window. But with the sump pump having been put in, the door got moved. Now our basement is open to the full view of whoever bends down and takes a look. I also think they can see into our basement from that houses side window that looks over this way. Ya never know! Anyway, I am determined to get a curtain put up down there as soon as possible. The bathroom that we use is down there and sometimes I will forget a towel and need to dash naked to the washer/dryer to get a clean one. If anyone were to look in at just that time I am sure they would be turned to stone or suffer a heart attack. Stop laughing! I am serious! I know Hubby John is rolling his eyes as he reads this. He should be careful that they don't get stuck! HJ could care less if there was a curtain up or not. I know he is thinking....."Who cares? If they look and see your naked butt then they'll be mooned!"Well I care and I want the curtains up. So on Friday the deed will get done. And come Friday evening there may be a full moon but the neighbours won't be seeing it.